Developer group denounces suburban “subsidy” claim

The city’s key development industry associations are staking out middle ground between Cal Wenzel and Naheed Nenshi.

As the Urban Development Institute’s Calgary branch aimed to dispel what it calls “misconceptions” about the costs of suburban growth, its CEO is also aiming to distinguish the broader development sector’s views from that of Wenzel, the Shane Homes founder who was caught on videotape several months ago dividing council into the “dark side” and “our side.”

Guy Huntingford, while not criticizing Wenzel, said the home builder was expressing “one gentleman’s opinion” about politics and home affordability.

“What people say behind closed doors, honestly I can’t control,” Huntingford told reporters Tuesday, as he released an open letter to all mayoral and councillor candidates ahead of the Oct. 21 election.

“But I will tell you that we are here as a voice for the industry and, hopefully, that will be the voice that you’ll hear going forward.”

That group said its message was also approved by its Canadian Home Builders Association counterparts — a group whose former president got publicly reprimanded earlier this year for hyperbolically claiming a “suburban development freeze” existed.

Huntingford also declined to criticize Nenshi, saying he enjoys a cordial relationship with the mayor — unlike Wenzel, who told the Calgary Sun in April: “Our family is more resolved than ever to go after him.”

There are disagreements between the suburb-building groups and the mayor, who is widely expected to be re-elected in less than three weeks. Chief among them is Nenshi’s assertion that developer levies aren’t adequate and amount to the city giving a $4,500 subsidy to every new home.

Although the UDI head and Nenshi align on some of the math — that one-quarter of new suburban infrastructure costs are borne by the city not the developers — Huntingford said the city does get its fair share, and gets the rest from utility rates that residents in new communities pay along with other Calgarians.

“At the end of the day, if it’s $4,500 a door, then how long does it take for the city to recover that?” Huntingford said. “And then from that point forward, (utility rates) are accruing to the city to fix all sots of things.”

The industry group’s rebuttal didn’t sway Nenshi. He has promised to push to make developer levies pay for all growth costs when they’re renegotiated in two years.

“The fact is when that debt comes in, every ratepayer pays that debt and I think that’s unfair,” he said.

“I think that along with everyone else, growth should pay for itself,” he said.

Kevin Taylor, whose campaign been supported by Wenzel’s company, said he’s been unable to find facts behind his opponent’s numbers. He expressed concern about rising home costs in new areas, something UDI and other industry players warn of.

“Smart sustainable growth must be matched with affordability,” he said.

He got applause from the debate crowd by arguing that East Village has been subsidized by taxpayers, too, but no new buildings are complete yet. Several towers are under construction in that long-derelict district.

Nenshi said he agreed with much of what Huntingford said in his open letter — that it’s too tough to build new condo or townhouse developments in existing areas, and that, to some extent, the amount of development-ready land could become a concern. He said he has disagreements but no beef with Huntingford.

“I’ve always been very careful to say that it’s not about the developers — it’s about the home builders,” Nenshi said. “And it’s not about all the home builders.”

Wenzel, who counts some builders as allies, told industry colleagues last year that “some people that are on this city council are totally out of control.” He’s helped raise $1.1 million for the Manning Centre and Manning Foundation to help his civic political ambitions, and that he wanted to ensure there are eight developer-friendly councillors on the 15-member council. “Unless we get somebody in there that is, you know really going to be on our side, rather than the dark side, you know, we are talking another four years after next October,” Wenzel said in the speech last fall, a recording of which was leaked to Global News.

Based on this, Nenshi has spent months saying that a Wenzel “slate” is running against incumbent councillors, although the candidates Wenzel praised on that tape insist they’re independents. The mayor has responded by endorsing all his council colleagues seeking re-election.

“The builders who created this slate — and there is a slate, we have video proof of that — are home builders that frankly haven’t been part of all the negotiations and all the discussions,” Nenshi said.

Huntingford said Wenzel’s surreptitiously videotaped speech was an “unfortunate incident,” and that he doesn’t speak for the whole development industry. “That is one gentleman’s opinion,” he said.

And in contrast to the Manning Foundation’s contention that city planning targets are flawed — the UDI executive said his group fully supports the long-range Municipal Development Plan that aims to concentrate more growth in Calgary’s existing areas.

“Builders and developers follow and respect the direction of city council,” Huntingford said.

jmarkusoff@calgaryherald.com

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